Bucket List visit - part 5 of 9: Painted Hall, Old Royal Naval College ...

We then had a gentle walk along the river bank past the Cutty Sark to ‘touch sides’ with the Painted Hall, which is in the process of a conservation project lasting until 2019.  I was with the friend from South Africa who could not have made the scaffold tour on offer, nor did we have time …

The Cutty Sark - restored ... it has been lifted
9 metres so can be accessed at ground level -
there will be a museum with various features ...
the restoration and conservation are continuing
ready for the 150th anniversary in 2019

… but it has whetted my appetite to make a plan to get back to take the tour … talking of appetite – the last time I wrote about the Painted Hall was for the Olympic 2012 Great British Menu …

In that post I gave a brief summary about the history of the Hall, but little about the art itself. 

The Painted Hall full of scaffolding as the art works
are restored and repairs are made

Our history here is extraordinary … always reminding us how the country developed, and what amazing talent was able to come to the fore with engineers, architects, designers, artists and many other creatives.

Another view of the Painted Hall with
the west wall in full view at the end

If you can believe it – this Painted Hall was created as a dining hall - an eating place - for the naval veterans, who had survived their sea voyages of exploration in the 1600s.

Unsurprisingly upon completion it was considered way too grand for everyday use … and became (surprisingly) one of London’s first tourist attractions – the Pensioners being hired to give guided tours.

This shows the four courts at Greenwich,
the Queen's House at the back centre - with
the National Maritime Museum to the right

In the 1800s until 1936 the Painted Hall was also known as the National Gallery of Naval Art - with 300 naval-themed paintings – which now form the foundation of the National Maritime Museum’s art collection just up the hill.

James Thornhill's work:
William and Mary

James Thornhill (1675 – 1734) had painted the interior of the dome in St Paul’s Cathedral and in 1708 was appointed to decorate the Hall.

His instructions were to include as many naval references as possible, boast the triumph of William and Mary in the Glorious Revolution in 1688 over James II with royal propaganda.

His vision is superb … he worked on dry plaster, and without 21^st century scaffolding – not a job I’d have liked in any form.  It took him 19 years … but thereafter he was knighted!

Royal Symbolism

Signs and Symbols are depicted in the art, particularly astronomical features – so important to navigation – together with the famous astronomers of the day … 

The Painted Hall

... including – guess who … the man with the prosthetic nose whom I wrote about last year … Tycho Brahe (1546 - 1601) - the last of the ‘naked eye astronomers’.

I’ve set out some links below if you’d like a better understanding of the wonderfulness of this incredible building or perhaps part of the great courts of Greenwich and to see in close up some of the restoration work.

As tends to happen in this country … if we dig down we find new to us undiscovered buildings … it has happened at the Painted Hall.  They are working at bringing the Undercroft back into existence as a shop-restaurant and visitor centre for this part of the Old Royal Naval College.

c/o Old Royal Naval College - major archaeology

So what appears … but the remains of Greenwich Palace, birthplace of Henry VIII and of his daughters Mary and Elizabeth I.

The new archaeological finds of this Tudor Palace – originally called Palace of Placentia (Palace of Pleasant Abode – from the Latin ‘placere’ “to please”)  will be included within the conservation and construction project being undertaken under the auspices of the Painted Hall Restoration Project.

A sketch of the early Greenwich  Palace
(Palace of Placentia) as published in
The Gentleman's Magazine 1840

Our history just goes on and on … and how much we learn along the way … finding out about all these talented people who were able to translate the vision given to them by their patrons.

Then over nearly six hundred years the site reflects the country’s development from early Tudor and on into our own 21^st century … what changes …

When I’m able to get up to London again and take part in a scaffold tour – I’ll let you know …

Conservation trials in the Painted Hall - Old Royal Naval College (ORNC) Painted Hall Project

ORNC - Conserving the Painted Hall's Vestibule 

Major Archaeological Finds uncover lost Palace - ORNC 

A guest article in the Tudor Times about the Palace of Placentia - this is fascinating, just adding to the history

My earlier post on the Great British Menu dinner held in the Painted Hall just before the London Olympics 2012

The post on Tycho Brahe and his prosthetic nose 

The Cutty Sark 150th restoration project - to be completed by 2019 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

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